Rockstar dropped a teaser with six songs, and there they were: Rauw Alejandro with "Macacoa 2000" and CA7RIEL & Paco Amoroso with "Sexy Magic." Remezcla reported it first, and Vibe filled out the rest of the compilation, which also features Travis Scott, Morgan Wallen and Keith Richards. Grand Theft Auto VI: The Album carries 34 songs made for the game and arrives November 19, the same day as Vice City and Leonida, the map Rockstar has spent years building.

Reggaetón sucio in Vice City

What Rauw brings isn't a single built for this week's radio. According to Remezcla, "Macacoa 2000" is a tribute: dirty, old-school reggaeton with the raw sound of the genre's golden era. The most anticipated game in the world putting that sound, the garage-party sound of the 2000s, into its city says a lot about where reggaeton stands today. It's no longer the exotic guest on the soundtrack. It's part of the landscape.

It makes sense that Rauw is the one carrying it. Few artists of his generation have moved between styles as much as he has, and here he chooses to look back to the roots instead of chasing what's trending.

Rauw arrives with his catalog on fire

The news lands at a moment when his music is already playing across the region. "Dile a El" sits at No. 22 in Argentina, No. 44 in Colombia and No. 43 in the Dominican Republic. "Qué Pasaría...," with Bad Bunny, is at No. 45 and No. 46 on those charts, and "DILUVIO" is at No. 37 in Argentina. On the global reggaeton chart, 2021's "Todo De Ti" is still holding at No. 19, with "Desesperados" at No. 43. Songs from different eras running at the same time, and "Macacoa 2000" hasn't even come out in full yet: it arrives with the album in November.

CA7RIEL & Paco Amoroso head for the club

The Argentine duo made the boldest move of the announcement. "Sexy Magic" takes them out of the Buenos Aires trap that made their name and into a house track with PinkPantheress, Fred again.. and French producer Étienne de Crécy. It's music for a 3 a.m. club in London or Berlin, and they walk in as equals. For two artists from Buenos Aires, a credit like that, on a game like this, is a door very few Latin artists have walked through.

Counting down to November 19

Rockstar is already warming up the launch: according to Consequence, it has put a $400 collector's set on sale, with Oakley sunglasses, a New Era cap and a poster of Leonida, inspired by a fictional TV show inside the game. On November 19 the game and the album arrive together, and with them the full versions of "Macacoa 2000" and "Sexy Magic." That day, millions of players will cruise Vice City with old-school reggaeton playing in the car. There aren't many bigger stages than that.